


These Healing Wounds.

by socialcxsualtyy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Character Death pre fanfic, Fluff, Football Player Louis, Friends to Lovers, I promise it gets better!!, Louis and Lottie are twins, Love at First Sight, M/M, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please bare with, Sad Louis, Slow Build, grieving character, please be nice haha, poorly written smut, second chapter is when it all starts to fall into place., sixth form AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:22:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5186864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socialcxsualtyy/pseuds/socialcxsualtyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis had everyone he loved ripped away from him in a matter of weeks. He's spent the last two years living as a ghost of his old self, trying to clutch on to the memories of his past for as long as he possibly can before they're forgotten. </p><p>Harry's the new boy who crashes his way into Louis' life and wants nothing more than to gain his trust, yet they find themselves falling deeper and deeper for the other as their friendship develops and deepens. </p><p>Louis told himself he'd never let anyone close again. </p><p>Harry told himself he'd break down Louis' walls. </p><p>Everybody he loves leaves one way or another. And Louis doesn't think he could take it if life took Harry away too. </p><p>But he can't stop love and this time, he doesn't want to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oops!

**Author's Note:**

> Soooooo, here it is. Chapter 1 of my very first fan fiction! I hope you all enjoy, I'm sorry if you don't but I promise that more happens in the next chapters, I just wasn't sure how I was supposed to kick it all off.
> 
> I have briefly proof read over this and I do not think there are any mistakes, if there are I am terribly sorry :( It's late when I'm posting this so sorry if I've missed any mistakes.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts about the chapter and maybe some ideas for the next few in the comments if you like. I'd be open to criticisms and suggestions :)
> 
> Thank You!! xxx
> 
> -S.C x

Particularly slow days are when he tends to end up here. There is just something about the darkness and how it envelops him, shrouds him from within its murky interior, that makes him feel comforted and safe.

Honestly, he doesn't know for sure when it became his safe place, he just knows he's found himself within these four walls almost everyday for as long as he can remember. Although it's just a claustrophobic storeroom to everybody else, to him it's his anchor, it keeps him grounded. When his emotions begin to take over, he'll hide out in here until he's managed - if he manages - to calm himself down.

They know he's here. Nobody's looking for him. His friends accepted the fact that, sometimes, being alone is all he needs. Thinking about what his life has become is a repetitive part of his storeroom schedule, alongside grieving for them. It's been two years to the day since they died in that car crash... it's been two years since Louis' entire world crumbled around him.

Not in the literal sense of course, it didn't strip him of his role of being the football team's captain, it didn't stop him being top of all his classes, nor did it stop his peers from labelling him as "Mr Popular".

Ugh, he hates that term.

"Popular".

It sickens him, always has, he's never understood the ludicrous title. Although, he supposes that its does possess appeal on the social level, yet he can't bring himself to enjoy having such a vast group of friends knowing just how many of them are fake. It quickly made him realise that all the phonies helped him suss out who the real friends actually are, allowing the bonds and friendships they share to feel even more... well, real.

Similarly, being the captain of the football team and a top student have their perks as well, such as respect, admiration and being an overall likeable person, but when you've been through what Louis has been through, when you go through worse than what Louis has been through, these simple and irrelevant benefits created by ridiculous labels fade to the background of your mind as if they never existed. Because all that stuff is fucking fantastic in a normal life, yet it has became so utterly pointless in Louis'.

Part of him thinks it's down to not having anyone left he really wants to make proud. His mum was the centre of his universe, the main reason for his existence, the person he'd never even dreamt about letting down, but when she passed, she took a piece of Louis' soul with her.

Lottie and Eleanor had always been Louis' biggest supporters after Jay. Nobody else knows their Louis, the Louis they encouraged and adored more and more each day, the Louis who would stop at nothing to make them proud and prove to them how much he loved them. The Louis that belonged to his best friend in the shape of a sister. The Louis that belonged to his first love. The Louis who he had refused to share with anybody else. The Louis that died along with them in that fucking car accident.

His youngest sisters, Fizzy, Phoebe and Daisy were taken into the custody of their biological father, Mark Tomlinson, who decided to move away and start their lives over somewhere new. Mark thought it might ease the pain of the loss, being away from the negativity and sadness. Away from Louis. Louis wouldn't know if it helped his sisters cope better, he hasn't heard from them since.

Louis knows Mark should have custody over him too, but he also knows Mark has grew a deep disliking to him over the years, blaming Louis for the divorce because of the- no, he won't let himself think of that. Therefore, 16 year old Louis was left in the care of his and Lottie's own biological father, Troy Austin.

Don't get him wrong, Troy has tried so hard to be good to Louis and the comfort of somebody else who is sharing his grief helped a lot, but after Troy had walked out on them all those years ago, Louis just can't help but hold an ever growing bitter grudge against the man. Troy doesn't deserve to call himself a dad in Louis' eyes, isn't allowed to feel the pain of losing Lottie and even Jay as intensly as Louis, but the man is the only one currently keeping a roof over Louis' head, so sacrifices must be made and being civil is key.

He could take living in that God forsaken home until he went to university next year, just as long as it meant he wasn't left completely homeless. He knows Niall or Liam would open their doors to him, maybe even Stan, Aidan or Ed would too, but Louis doesn't like to admit he needs help.

Technically Louis can live alone, being 18 now and all, but with no income and the end of his A Levels in sight he can't afford to deal with the stress and inconvenience moving out would entail. Troy has offered him a place to live for as long as he needs it, so he may as well take him up on the offer.

Today the pain and grief is all consuming and extremely crippling. Two full years without them. Two full years since hearing Lottie's laugh. Two full years since holding Eleanor's hand. Two full years since telling his mum he loves her. Two full years since everything went to shit. Today it once again dawned on him that he truly would never see them again. He can never simply speak to them again and that is the most painful thing he has ever had to endure.

So sitting here in this gloomy storeroom, Louis weeps for the people and the life he used to have. The weeps racked through his body, awful choke-like sobs being ripped from his throat. He doesn't know how long he's been sat here. He's probably missed up to third period by now. He'll face reality at lunch, hopefully he can somewhat hide his distraught by then. He isn't ashamed of missing them per say, he's more ashamed of admitting he isn't okay, that he isn't coping.

Louis' crying ceases not long after, yet he still refuses to leave his storeroom, prefering the silence it provides when he begins to reminisce, trying desperately not to forget a single detail about those he's lost.

*****

"Mum, honestly, I'm fine I can take it from here, I don't need you to walk me in! I love you but I don't want to look like a joke on my first day at my new school," Harry says from the passenger seat of the car, resting his hand on his mothers arm for reassurance. Anne blinked at her son and received a pointed look in return, resolute.

A sigh escapes her lips and she raised her hand to stroke Harry's curly locks. "I know baby, I'm sorry, but I can't help my worrying! You're my baby boy and no matter how old you get I'll always want to look after you!" she smiled sadly, "guess I'll just let you go your own way from here then", she put her seat belt back on and raised her hands in surrender, earning a giggle from Harry.

"How generous of you. Thank you for the lift Mum, I'll see you later," Harry said as he kissed his mother's forehead before climbing out of the car. He peered through the window once again after shutting the door and gave his mum a small wave before turning on his heels and joining the crowd of uniform clad students of various ages entering his new school.

Harry couldn't help but feel anxious. Since he was in sixth form and therefore did not require a uniform, he began to panic as to whether his outfit today looked good or not... first impressions and everything. He was worried about the type of people he'd meet, would he get along well with anyone? Would they accept his sexuality?

Harry's not naïve, he's aware that not everyone in the world accepts non-heteronormativity, but he also knows that it's 2015, surely people are more open by now? He likes to think so. Perhaps it's a school full of different sexualities, discovered and experimental, and he'll just fit right in... perhaps he'll even find his first boyfriend! Wow, Harry, he thought, optimistic much?

He scoffed at his thoughts before opening the door to a building that - due to the huge sign reading 'RECEPTION' - he assumed was the correct way to go. As he walked up to the front desk, he noticed an array of pictures hung on the wall showing... various sports teams? Maybe, he couldn't really tell, but noted the significant difference between the sizes of the centre picture to those bordering it.

It was obvious that whatever the sport was, it was highly favoured in this school. He spotted a football in the hands of a short, tan boy in a white and black kit, as well as some other random players around the scene. Football. Typical. Harry isn't good at football in the slightest, he understands and loves the game, but is unable to get his slender, Bambi legs to cooperate with him for long enough to play anywhere near decently, but that's a subject that Harry learnt to get over years ago.

Just as Harry felt the urge to shift his vision back to the central boy, he heard a slight cough to his left. His head turned towards the sound and he spotted a woman with silver hair tied up in a loose bun, red lipstick on her pouty lips and dark blue eyes. She smiled at Harry and walked towards him before holding her hand out and speaking. "Hello there, I'm Mrs Teasdale, but everyone calls me Lou, I'm the receptionist here at Doncaster Comprehensive High School, you must be our new student?" she asked, Harry took her hand and shook it gently before replying.

"That's me, nice to meet you Mrs Teaaaa- I mean Lou, I'm Harry Styles,"

"Why hello, Harry! I have your timetable printed out already, so I'll just pass it to you and then I'll escort you to your form class, how does that sound?" she said walking behind the main desk to shuffle through some papers before pulling out what Harry assumed was his time table, handing it over with a beaming smile. Harry smiled back.

"That sounds lovely, thank you!" he said.

"No problem my dear. Now, if you'd like to follow me?" she spoke, Harry nodded and followed Lou once she'd turned and began to lead him through the unfamiliar corridoors.

*****

Niall was the first familiar face Louis spotted after exiting the storeroom. The short boy hung his head low and dodged through the crowd to get to his friend, hopefully avoiding any prying eyes that might catch sight of his bloodshot ones. Niall spotted him just as Louis was two steps away from him and asked "Y'alright Tommo?" with round, sympathetic eyes before folding him into his arms. "I can't even imagine what you're dealing with today mate. I love you, Louis. Just reminding you, probably does fuck all to help, but I do, we all do" Niall whispered into Louis' ear whilst embracing his best friend, meanwhile Louis just buried his head into Niall's neck, hoping that maybe if he tried hard enough he could make himself magically combust right here and now.

"I love you too, Nialler. Now, are you going to be a gentleman and escort me to lunch, or are you just going to leave a grieving friend hanging?" Louis attempted to joke, though he couldn't ignore the stinging pang that he felt in his chest as he said the words. Niall, however, just huffed a slight laugh and held his arm out for Louis to take. The blue eyed boy linked their arms and the pair started to walk towards the canteen.

Entering the student packed area was a lot more tense than Louis had expected. Nearly all eyes fell on him. He really fucking hated being considered popular. For some reason, that title meant that his business became everyone's business and word of the anniversary spread like wild fire... hence the current looks he recieved. _Keep your head held high_ he mentally told himself on a loop - something his mother always told him to do - in hopes that it would prevent anyone from observing the reality of Louis' emotional state, in it's place seeing a strong, confident and emotionally stable young man. They probably all know the truth but, hey, Louis' always been a dreamer.

As they approach their usual table, he hears the lads having a debate about who the best footballer is, Messi or Ronaldo, and Louis can't help but prey that they don't stop when they acknowledge his presence. That would be awkward. So when Louis reaches the far side of the table and takes the seat next to Liam and the conversation doesn't faulter, Louis breathes that little bit easier. The only acknowledgement he really receives is a slight rub on the back from Liam who, all the while, continues to hash it out with Stan from across the table.

It's times like this when Louis' thoughts are all over the place that he likes to blend into the surroundings, choosing to not voice his opinion on the subject at hand or really do anything but listen to the continuous chatter of his friends.

It does help him relax more, maybe not as much as the storeroom, but he'd be lying if he said it never. He notices a few glances from across the table that are thrown his way, but he doesn't mind. It's kind of predictable that people will be concerned for you on the anniversary of your downfall, it's simply just common courtesy.

"Tommo," Louis hears down his left ear and turns to see Ed smiling at him, Louis returns the smile in reply, "fancy joining the dinner line with me? Forgot my lunch this morning so I have to buy something," he asked.

"Sure, could do with a bottle of water anyway," Louis replied, thankful for the normalcy of the situation.

Ed and Louis get into line and begin a conversation about the ridiculousness of the current dinner lady, Gladys, who was 60 years old and worked at a snails pace... literally. Each student took a full two minutes to complete their orders, and it may not seem like much, but when you are a hungry and hormonal teenager, just about anything will piss you off. Therefore, poor little Gladys was receiving quite a range of remarks regarding her age and ability to work from not only Louis and Ed, but the rest of the dinner line. They had made it to about five people from the front of the line when Louis felt a shove from behind.

Sharply, Louis spun on his heels and contorted his face into a scowl, ready to hurl some verbal abuse at the person who did it, but instead he finds himself face to face with the most beautiful pair of green eyes he had ever seen. The light and pale colour contrasting the large and deep pupils at the centres of the irises, pleading guilt and innocence as the boy began his apologise.

Then Louis noticed the full lips, the bottom one currently being worried between perfectly white teeth; then he noticed the dimples. Dimples. How could someone be so beautiful yet cute all at once? This boy actually had dimples.

His silky locks of dark curls looked absolutely lucious and shone under the fluorescent lights of the canteen, causing Louis to remind himself not to reach out and stroke the stranger indecently. It was hard, but he managed to refrain from that potential embarrassment.

It's been a while since Louis had felt some sort of attraction to a lad. He did a little experimenting a while back in Year 10 with a boy who moved away mid year, but was thrown straight back into a male/female dynamic when he started seeing Eleanor shortly after. His feeling for her overwhelmed him so much that the thought of boys was pushed to the back of his head.

Louis is about 99.9% positive he is infact bisexual, so the fact he is feeling this sort of attraction to a male is not the factor that scares him. It's the fact that he's reacting this way to a person who is not Eleanor. It's the first time he's reacting this way for the first time in two years.

He's scared because the mix of emotions coursing through his veins from just looking at this boy were once only directed towards Eleanor. He's not sure if he wants to feel this way, he's not sure if he's ready to, but fuck would he be lying if he tried to claim he didn't.

Louis began to notice almost all of the features of the boy, like how he had a couple inches of height on Louis, his huge hands and his straight brows, the freckle on the right of his lips, to the plain white t-shirt that he wore, and with every new observation made, the more heat Louis felt flush his face and neck.

But that wasn't the worst part. The minute Louis heard a deep, raspy and slow voice say, "Oops!", he felt his knees buckle and his heart pound out of his chest.

Louis could feel himself becoming infatuated, and it scared him more than anything.


	2. Hi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! I've tried to upload this as quickly as possible whilst still producing decent quality! I'm sorry I suck at this haha. Hope you enjoy... I change the format of the text for this second chapter as I prefer the royal format to the HTML. I may go back and edit the first chapter to be the same, but, hey, I may not! :)
> 
> Also, Louis' texts will be italics, Harry's will be bold, and other characters will be underlined.  
> HOWEVER, I have also written the characters thoughts in italics, sorry for any confusion but I will indicate when and where it's a text to avoid as much confusion as possible
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any characters within this story and have made up some things about them to fit into the story a bit more. Please do not take or translate this story... doubt you would, but please don't without my permission.
> 
> Thank you everyone, let me know what you think.
> 
> S.C xxx

Harry's lesson before lunch was Psychology. It was only a small class, approximately seven people altogether, but he seemed to fit with in everyone right away, almost as if he was the missing piece to their psychology puzzle.

Immediately after walking through the door, the teacher, Mr O'Donnell, asked Harry to introduce himself to the class and then directed him to the empty seat beside a slim girl who the man had called "Cara". At the mention of her name, the girl smiled at Harry and moved her bag that had previously been occupying her neighbouring seat, and pulled out the chair for Harry before he sat down.

"Wow, thank you. I'm Harry," he said offering the girl a smile.

She returned the smile and said, "I'm Cara, lovely to meet you, Harry and you're welcome. I've always been one to make a good first impression and all," she commented, causing herself and Harry to release soft giggles before they shook hands. Harry heard a cackle from the table to their right and turned to be faced with another boy and girl, both watching them and laughing.

The girl had tanned skin and dark hair, and was currently covering her mouth with her hand to try and muffle her laughter. The boy next to her looked straight at Harry with his brown eyes, his hair was in a quiff that fell slightly to the right, and laughed once more before speaking.

"Sorry pretty boy, our lovely Cara here doesn't really go for your type. You'd need to be a bit less broad for that and, oh yeah, have a pair of boobs and a vagina!"

"She's a lesbian my friend, very sorry to disappoint," the girl said. Harry felt the blood rush to his face in embarrassment and he turned to Cara who, similarly to Harry, had blushed a deep rouge colour and held her bottom lip between her teeth, eyes widened at the exchange.

"What? N-no, I erm..." Harry stuttered whilst looking between the three students, "I mean, you're gorgeous - seriously, congratulations for your genes - but, well... I'm not, I mean... she isn't exactly my type either. She'd kind of, er, need to be more broad, without boobs, or a vagina," he stated, copying what Nick had previously said, "I'm gay, too." the last bit was aimed directly at Cara in hopes of, well, offering support maybe?

At the end of the day Harry wasn't sure if the other two teenagers meant what they said in a homophobic way or not. He looked the boy dead in the eyes and firmly asked, "That wouldn't happen to be a problem, would it?"

 "God no, my dear boy! No problem at all. It would make me a bit of a hypocrite if there was, considering I also prefer a male specimen over a woman," he replied, "Harry was it?"

"Yeah, Harry Styles," the green eyed boy said in return as he watched a smirk spread over the boys face, "and you are?"

"Oh, I'm Nick, this is Alexa," he jutted his chin towards the dark haired girl beside him, "my partner in crime. S'about time we got some new meat around here, and such a lovely chunk too," he said raising his eyebrows at Harry in a flirtatious manner.

"Nick pack it in, you'll scare the poor boy off!" Cara spoke from beside Harry before continuing, "Nick and Alexa are resitting year twelve, they're supposed to be in year thirteen but they slacked off to much, hence their current presence in our psychology class," she told him with a chuckle, encouraging one from Harry in return.

For the rest of the lesson, Harry spent his time chatting with his new peers and getting to know them, as well as answering their questions about him. He learnt about their "group" and how it was often referred to as the "Gay Gang" by everyone (including themselves) due to their wide range of sexualities, but no offence was intended due to the accepting nature of their schoolmates. Harry found that both humorous and comforting at the same time.

They invited him to spend lunch with them, and Harry gladly agreed. He loved making new friends.

*****

When the bell rang, Harry and his new friends packed up their belongings and headed to the canteen. "So, is there anybody here I should be wary of? Any dick heads or bitches I'm best avoiding?" Harry asked. He's never been one for confrontation.

"Not particularly no, we all tend to get on here. Well in sixth form anyway, the lower years tend to be a bit more aggressive," Alexa claimed, shifting her bag higher on her shoulder before turning to Cara. "Actually, isn't today the anniversary of Louis's, you know..."

 "Jesus Christ, you're right! Poor lad," Cara said, eyes wide and mouth agape, "Hazza, the only thing I'd tell you to watch out for is to watch what you say around certain people today. Y'see, there's a boy called Louis in year thirteen who, well, lost his mum, twin sister and girlfriend in a car crash two years ago. He's this really genuine and lovely boy as well, so it might put a bit of a downer on everyone who's close to him today. I doubt you'd say anything super inappropriate because I've known you for just over an hour and I can tell you're a lovely guy, but if you notice a bad mood or strange vibe from anything or anyone... it's best not to mention it," she told him. Harry looked over to Nick and Alexa to see their grimaces, knowing he himself sported a distraught look on his face. He nodded slowly and swallowed loudly, showing his understanding.

Three people in the same accident? Bloody hell. Harry refuses to even imagine how devastating that would be, how horrendous an impact it would have on his life. Losing his mum and Gemma? No, he will not do that to himself. Sympathy doesn't even begin to describe the emotion Harry feels for this unknown boy. Nick begins to speak and it snaps Harry out of his thoughts.

"I may have had the odd clash with Tommo in the past, yet you can't help but feel absolutely horrible for him today, can you? I'm just glad he has such a large group of people willing to support him. Not only did his mum, twin and girlfriend die, but his step-dad fucked off with his other sisters and left him with his lousy excuse of a biological father. Kid's got it rough," he explained to Harry gloomily.

"No way! That's awful," Harry sympathised.

"That's life for you, young Hazza, fucked up and unfair!" Nick retorted as they walked through the double doors of the canteen.

They joined the dinner line behind a petite brunette and tall red head, Nick turned to him and mouthed, "That's him!" and Harry felt his stomach drop. Nick pointed towards the smaller of the two boys subtly, frowning whilst throwing a glance at the back of the brunette's head.

This boy in front of him was the boy who had suffered so much, it was evident through his slouched posture, his shoulders sunken forward and his head slightly turned towards the floor. Harry didn't see his face from where he was stood, but he could tell the boy was quite cute just from his tiny frame.

Nick and Harry stood behind Cara and Alexa, who were giggling and gossiping to each other. Nick was telling Harry about everyone he'd be meeting when they sat down, such as Taylor, a pretty blonde girl who everyone feels may have commitment issues; a fellow homosexual Jaymi; his best friend George - who apparently kind of resembles Harry himself; Leigh Anne, Jesy, Jade and her girlfriend, Perrie, then Gigi and Kendall, "the pretty and quiet ones" Nick said, causing Harry to laugh, however, Harry unconsciously continued to find his interest directed towards the smaller boy, Louis was it? He over heard the conversation between him and the red head, notifying a high pitched voice coming from the boy. Harry couldn't help but think of him as anything more than a delicate, damaged boy.

Cara and Alexa ended up decided that they were tired of standing in the line and moved to join their other friends at the table. Their absence meant that there was now nobody stood between himself and this Louis. Nick moved forward in the queue, Harry, on the other hand, hesitated at the thought of being so close to Louis, yet not being able to comfort him, share his condolences or even talk to him as they were strangers. But Harry's mind kept trying to imagine what this boy had been through, leaving him itching to simply make sure he was okay. Anne always told Harry that his weak spot was how caring he was.

Nick noticed Harry's hesitance and rolled his eyes before yanking on Harry's collar and pulling him forward. Harry has hated his gangly limbs for as long as he can remember... they always fail him at the worst possible moments. Just like how in that exact moment, they left him to stumble and lose his balance before crashing into someone in front of him.

Shit. Not just someone, he'd smacked right into the back of Louis' shoulder. Harry really hates his limbs. Louis was shoved forward, a loud scoff escaping his lips before he sharply turned around to face Harry. It was that moment when Harry's face went slack, mouth open and eyes wide as he finally came face to face with the boy. And... wow.

Cheekbones. Beautifully carved cheekbones underlined a pair of cerulean blue eyes and long, thick eyelashes, his short, slightly fringed hair falling just a little bit over them. A tiny button nose was at the centre of his face and his thin lips were pulled into a scowl, however it was quickly replaced by a look of pure astonishment only seconds later.

"Oops!" Harry said, aiming for humour but having it fall flat, he cringed internally and tried a different approach. "I'm so sorry, I'm too clumsy for my own good sometimes. I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked, but felt himself blushing when the boy just continued to stare in... awe? _No, don't be silly Harry_ , he thought, _it's probably just curiosity since he's never seen you before, you dolt._ Harry let a small smile grace his lips but the boy continued to stare. It felt like it had been minutes, but in reality it had only been about fifteen seconds since Harry had literally crashed into Louis' life.

Harry next noticed the awkward stance that Nick had taken up as he looked between the two, he also noticed the slight smirk on the red heads face at the encounter. Meanwhile, Louis continued to stare. Harry cleared his throat and said, "Er, hello?"

This caught the boy's attention, and as if he realised he'd been staring, he rapidly blinked his eyes and, just as Harry had, cleared his throat awkwardly, "Hi... Hi! Sorry mate, no it's fine, honestly, I'm fine... no harm done. Er, s- erm. Sorry for staring b-but I was just, uh, trying to... r-recognise you? Yeah, I didn't recognise you... still don't actually," Louis rambled and no, Harry did not find it cute. (He found it absolutely, positively, endearingly adorable). "Are you new? Sorry I just don't think I've ever seen you before"

"Uh, yeah actually, it's my first day. I'm Harry... I'm really sorry, again, if I didn't make it clear before,"

"Honestly mate it's fine! I'm Louis, this is Ed," he pointed at the red head then turned his attention to Nick and said, "Grimshaw," with a slight smirk.

"Tomlinson," Nick retorted with an identical smirk, "can't let little Hazza here take all the blame, I dragged him forward, therefore this was partly my fault. Sorry mate,"

"It's okay, I swear, I'm not a china doll that is easily shattered. You of all people should know that Nicholas," Louis joked, provoking a chuckle from Nick, he turned to Harry again, "nice to meet you, Harry. Welcome to the shit hole known as Doncaster Comp! Although, I must say, I would of thought someone would've warned you to make friends with anyone but this tosser," her jerked his thumb at Nick, "I personally don't see the appeal to him!" Louis and Ed laughed, and surprisingly so did Nick. _He must only be joking_ Harry thought, therefore allowing himself to laugh along with them.

"Mr Tomlinson, Mr Sheeran, are you ordering any time soon or are you just going to continue dawdling?" the dinner lady asked them, unamused.

"Sorry, Gladys," Ed said turning to order, Louis, however, remained facing Harry and Nick. "Honestly lads, don't worry your cotton socks, I hold no grudges over small incidents. Not in the mood today anyway to be honest. Lovely meeting you Harry, see you around," Louis said, sending a wink at Harry before turning and following Ed to a table on the far end of the room.

"I think he has a soft spot for you, Hazza," Nick said in his ear before turning to the dinner lady (Gladys?) and placing his order.

"Don't be silly he was just being nice," Harry scoffed.

"Being serious mate, he stared at you for a good minute and a half before just brushing off what happened, if it had been anyone else they would of got an earful of sassy and sarcastic wit. Honestly, he does, and that wink! How could you deny that?" Nick replied as he lead Harry towards what is now his newly designated table.

"He probably let me off because of the shitty day he's most likely having!"

"That's not what it looked like to me, mate" Nick said before placing his food down on the table, "anyway, everyone, this is Harry. Harry, this is Jaymi, George, Perrie, Taylor, Kendall, Jesy, Jade, Leigh Anne and you know Cara and Alexa," he said pointing to each face as he gave them a name.

Harry gave the table a timid wave. "Hello," he squeaked.

"Oh, alright man? You're new, yeah?" a dark skinned girl Nick had called Leigh Anne asked, Harry nodded in response. "Nice to meet you!" she beamed, causing a variety of murmured "yeah"s and "hi there"s from the others. Harry felt accepted. They included him in the conversations, asked for his opinions, got to know him and vice versa, as well as explaining a few inside jokes so that he wasn't completely lost. Their acceptingness made Harry feel relaxed in their presence. But... something felt off. Like he was being watched. He looked around the large hall but couldn't see anything suspicious.

He was about to return to his food when Nick said, "don't look now, but you've got an admirer. 5 o'clock." The last words confused Harry and it must of showed on his face because Nick rolled his eyes and said, "behind you to your right, you idiot," and laughed. Harry felt his cheeks heat up before he turned towards the stated direction. At first he couldn't see what Nick was talking about, but then his jade eyes locked with a pair of blue ones. Louis. A smile spread across Harry's face, and he give the boy a small wave.

Louis' initial reaction to being caught was quite humorous, his eyes widened and he looked away for a second, face turning red, before looking back at Harry and returning the smile and wave. He looked away, bashful, so Harry turned his attention back to Nick, who had watched the whole scene with his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face. Harry just pouted at him and whispered, "That proves nothing!" before returning to his packed lunch.

But what if Nick was right? What if Louis did have a soft spot for Harry? Harry certainly couldn't deny the fact that he had one for Louis. But Louis was a delicate subject, from what Harry had heard anyway. He had baggage, probably felt like he would never feel affection again after losing so many loved ones in the space of a year. He probably wouldn't want to get into anything in "that way" with Harry. Either way, Harry could feel himself becoming infatuated with the boy.

*****

"Class, I want to introduce you to our new student and classmate. Everybody, this is Harry" Mrs Jones said to the class.

_Harry? Harry!_

Louis' eyes snapped from his desk to the front of the class. His eyes came across the beautiful boy from earlier, the one with gorgeous green eyes, chocolate curls and fucking dimples. Dimples! A smile erupted onto his face unconsciously, causing Louis to bite his lips in hopes of concealing it before Harry had the chance to see it. Harry smiled at the room as his eyes drifted from one unfamiliar face to the other. When he looked at Louis though, the blue eyed boy felt his breath catch as Harry's eyes looked into his, dimples on show as he gave Louis a huge grin.

"If you would like to choose a seat, as you can see there is no shortage in this room," Mrs Jones said, slightly bitter. It was true, it seemed not as many people had chosen to study English as she would of liked.

Louis didn't even want to choose it, but it was the only course that offered an AS Level option, meaning he only had to do a year rather than the usual two before he can enter an exam to bag himself an extra qualification, gaining extra points that could get him into university incase the football dream didn't work out. This meant that despite being in year thirteen, he was apart of the year twelve English class, allowing him to learn in a classroom environment rather than one on one.

However, this had now became a bad thing, because he could have avoided (his feelings for) Harry easily around the school due to being the year above him, but now that he and Harry share a class, Louis is going to be confronted with the guilt (and admittedly excitment) he feels because of Harry on an almost daily basis.

"Thank you," Harry said to her as he walked to a chair. Louis wasn't at all disappointed that Harry hadn't fallen over himself to sit by him, choosing to sit two desks in front of him instead. Not at all.

The rest of the lesson, Louis found himself staring at the back of Harry's curly locks, trying to figure out what the deal was. Why did this boy intrigue him? Was it the possibility of a new friendship with someone? Someone who wouldn't feel like treading on egg shells whenever they spoke to him? Or was it the fact that he hadn't felt this type of spark with anyone since El? Although, the feelings he had for Eleanor didn't hit Louis as abruptly as they had with Harry, which was strange, because he had loved Eleanor so much that it hurt and he still feels his love for her deep in his bones, like an ever present phantom itch that he doesn't wish to scratch away.

Eleanor hadn't gone to his school. He actually met her after she moved in down the street from Louis and his family, and at sixteen, it hadn't taken Louis long to fall ass over tit for her. She has- had this breathtaking way about her, her sense of humour worked in harmonious correlation with Louis', she was absolutely stunning visually as well, which was of course an incredible bonus. She was so completely and utterly out of Louis' league, yet she chose him and that's something he could never, ever thank her enough for. She allowed Louis the opportunity to show her how much he could love her, to prove to her he wasn't a mistake, and he thinks he ended up doing pretty well to be honest.

Louis had lost his virginity to her. Eleanor lost her virginity to him. She was Louis' first love. He was Eleanor's only love. He thanked the universe for that opportunity everyday and vowed to do so continually until he physically no longer could. He doesn't think he'll ever stop loving her, doesn't think he ever could. She was the light of Louis' life for such a short amount of time, yet it should have been a lifetime. Her death will never cease to cause him grief and pain. Right along with his mum and Lots, she was such a major part of his life and that fact and that memory will never leave him, even though they did. He shouldn't feel this way about the new curly haired boy after not even one day of knowing him. He shouldn't come close to Eleanor, and he doesn't... not yet. Louis can't help but think that in the future, maybe he could.

When the bell rang signalling the end of the day, Louis packed his bag and looked up to see Harry exiting through the classroom door. Fuck. Louis was hoping to talk to him before he ran away. He wasn't sure exactly what he would have said, but he just felt an urge to talk to the boy. Louis sulked as he departed the room, not only because he didn't get to talk to Harry, but because that bell meant the end of the day, and the end of the day meant going home, and going home meant having no distractions. Going home meant remembering and reminiscing again. Remembering and reminiscing again meant grieving again. Louis hated grieving. He'd done enough of it for enough people to fill a lifetime.

He pulled out a phone and saw a text from Troy:

Won't b home 2nite, picked up l8 shift at work. Money left on table 4 food. Hope ur ok son.

Typical. Running away when Louis needs him most. Not that Louis would ever accept support from the man, but Troy claims that the pain of losing a daughter he never acknowledged is too much to bare and therefore can't support Louis the way he desserves. He's running away and finding a disraction, the thing Louis so badly wishes he could do.

Louis sighs and tucks his phone back into his pocket.

He really doesn't want to go home.

And maybe there is a God, or it's his mum watching over him, possibly even Eleanor or Lottie, because just as he's about to leave the building, he hears a deep voice call his name.

"Louis! Wait up!" 

The blue eyed boy turned in time to see Harry headed towards him, surprisingly followed by Ed and Niall, as he elbowed his way through the crowds. 

"Hey," he couldn't help the smile, really honestly couldn't, "what's up?" he asked.

"It's your lucky day Tommo, me and Ed are gonna show new boy Harry 'ere just what it's like to have a pizza from Tutti's!" Niall exclaimed. Tutti's was a restaurant called "Tutti i Condimenti" which is Italian for "All the Toppings" and for those none Italian speakers, they had shortened it to Tutti's for simplicity.

"After getting to know Hazza here in law class, I decided he's a pretty cool guy when he complimented my song I showed him, and I want to return the favour by taking his Tutti's virginity. Then Niall here tagged along, and we decided to ask you, we all know you don't wanna be alone tonight, man. What d'you say?" Ed continued, he looked at Louis with understanding. Louis wanted to kiss Ed Sheeran. This boy was Louis' saviour. He knows exactly when Louis wants help, even if he refuses to ask for it, and he considered the fact that Louis would be alone tonight, with only his crippling grief to accompany him, and decided to occupy Louis' schedule instead of leaving him to suffer. Louis really loved him.

"Please, Louis? I feel like this would be the perfect opportunity the get to know each other. I think we could become brilliant friends if you're anything like these two nutters," Harry said in a pleading tone and, well, how could Louis ignore  _that_ ? 

Louis felt his face split into a killer smirk.

"Of course I will accompany you, who would I be to pass up a pizza from Tutti's? And yes, Harold, I too feel like we could come to have an epic friendship, and I am nothing like those two nutters... because I am so much better!" Louis retorted, earning an approving smile from Harry, a chuckle from Ed and a scoff from Niall. 

"Let's go then! I'm craving pizza!" Niall shouted slinging an arm over Louis' shoulders and leading the way. 

Louis looked back over his shoulder to see Harry watching Louis with a gentle gaze whilst in conversation with Ed, who was oblivious to Harry's lack of attention.

For what felt like the thousandth time in less than five hours, Louis smiled at Harry and Harry smiled at Louis.

He could really see this becoming something marvellous.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone, let me know what you think.
> 
> Feel free to leave some comments, I'm open to both criticisms and suggestions.
> 
> S.C xxx

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know your thoughts about the chapter and maybe some ideas for the next few in the comments if you like. I'd be open to criticisms and suggestions :)
> 
> Thank You!! xxx
> 
> -S.C x


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